Video: Cork Gardaí probing dangerous driving on busy city footpath

The Head of Cork’s Divisional Traffic Corps has said gardaí are looking into an incident of dangerous driving caught on a dashcam in the city, write Roisin Burke and Rob McNamara.

Inspector Finbarr O’Sullivan expressed concern about an incident where a car drove along a footpath against a temporary one-way system on the Ballyhooley Road, describing it as “highly dangerous”.

Inspector O’Sullivan also said that An Garda Siochána would be “actively looking into the incident”, with the intention of “identifying and prosecuting” the individual involved.

The incident occurred on Tuesday on the Ballyhooley Road which is undergoing major construction works and has been reduced to one lane.

Driver Michael Crowley who captured the incident on his dashcam said that while the driver was not going exceptionally fast it was still very dangerous.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing when this guy came down the footpath. I had just passed two pedestrians some 20 to 30 metres back," he said.

Inspector O’Sullivan said: “This behaviour is dangerous and it shouldn’t happen. If we can identify the driver we will certainly be looking at it for prosecution.

“Anyone caught doing this will be prosecuted, and it has a potential to carry a disqualification, which is a big price to pay for the sake of waiting the two-three minutes needed for the time lapse.”

“It is highly dangerous and it is putting people at risk,” added Inspector O’Sullivan.

Car on footpath of the Ballyhooley Road.

As reported in the Evening Echo last month, the road has been closed to outbound public traffic between the junction of Gordon’s Hill and the junction of Ballyvolane Cross and will remain so until April 15. The works are to facilitate a cycle lane from Ballyvolane into the city, new water mains and public lighting.

The incident took place near the former O’Callaghan’s service station with the car driving along a footpath as inbound traffic waited to pass through.

Local Fianna Fáil Councillor Tim Brosnan has encouraged drivers to take heed of the signs that are in place.

“I saw this happen when the roadworks initially started in January and I put it down to the fact that somebody didn’t know that this system had been introduced,” he said.

“I would say this person has engaged in reckless behaviour. There are several warnings along the way and they are endangering pedestrians and other motorists. Even if they were in a hurry, it doesn’t excuse it,” he added.